Over the past 3 weeks, we have opened up a vote to the squashing public to vote for the best squash player at a particular shot. For example, it’s no surprise Ramy Ashour has (by general opinion) the best cross court volley nick, and Nick Matthew has the best forehand volley drop. OK, they’re two obvious ones. See all results here: Who’s Got The Best Blog.
So, now the results are in we can see – How To Make The Perfect Squash Player!!!
It’s very simple: Basically, you take Amr Shabana – add in the movement of Gregory Gaultier (or Jansher) and there you have it! Yes, you can add it a bit of Jonathon Power’s flair, Nick’s recovery lob and Ramy’s cross court nick, but really people have decided Shabana is as close to perfect as possible.
So…….. if Shabana is perfect, why is he not perfect? Why does he not win every match he plays?
Looking at Shabana now, yes he’s amazing and graceful, and plays perfectly simple squash with just enough flair to keep his opponent guessing on every shot, but he does lose, pretty much every tournament – so he can’t be perfect! …but it’s easy to forget several things:
– He’s 35 years old. The fact that he and Nick are so good at this age is revolutionizing squash, but he is 35 so surely cannot be at his best.
– It’s easy to forget how absolutely amazing he was 2006-2010.
– The other players are better. Nick is at his best right now. Ramy is better now than 6 years ago, and there’s Shorbagy to contend with.
So taking these factors into consideration of course Shabana can’t win every match, BUT, the squash he plays is pretty close to perfect. So what we’re saying, if you play squash, and you want to watch or copy anyone, copy Amr Shabana.
(I think it’s worth mentioning that surely if we were to somehow combine Shabana’s rackets skills and tactical knowledge with Nick Matthew’s attitude, we would have the perfect squash player!)
You must be logged in to post a comment.